28.02.2025 • Bruchsal, Munich, Bauma 2025: For over 90 years, SEW EURODRIVE, a global provider of drive and automation technology, has been moving countless applications in a whole range of sectors. Since the 1990s, the Bruchsal-based company has also been supplying particularly powerful large gear units to heavy industries.
Ever since it was established in 1931, SEW‑EURODRIVE has been an owner-operated family enterprise based in Bruchsal, in the Karlsruhe district of Germany. As a global market leader in the field of drive and automation technology, it employs more than 22 000 people in 57 countries worldwide. Its portfolio ranges from gearmotors and frequency inverters to services, and is one of the most comprehensive on the market. The unique modular drive and automation system offers millions of possible combinations – so it can always deliver the ideal solution for countless applications in virtually any industry.
In the early 1990s, the Bruchsal-based company set itself the goal of expanding its product portfolio to include industrial gear units and large gear units. As part of a collaboration with a Finnish company, large gear units were initially sold as a resale product. This collaboration was terminated at the end of the 2000s. The product rights and production and assembly sites were then divided, marking the beginning of an exciting journey.
In the same way as with its standard gearmotors, SEW‑EURODRIVE developed an end-to-end modular concept for large helical and bevel-helical gear units – and the X..e series of industrial gear units was born. Since 2009, this series has been manufactured and assembled in the Plant for Large Gear Units in Bruchsal, which was newly built at the time. Now, 30 years after first entering the large and industrial gear unit segment, the drive specialist is one of the global market leaders. The product portfolio includes planetary gear units and helical and bevel-helical gear units in a torque range from 2300 to 9 000 000 Nm. Customers can obtain gear units from the modular system, as well as specialist gear units in a batch size of one (design-to-order).
A global manufacturing network with sites in Germany, Finland, the Czech Republic, China, and Brazil enables SEW‑EURODRIVE to respond to customer requests flexibly and efficiently. In the manufacturing plants, parts such as shafts and gear wheels are produced without being destined for a specific order. They are then sent to the assembly plants, where the gear units are put together according to customer requirements. Working this way ensures maximum productivity and efficiency, while maintaining flexibility within the processes, and enables extremely short delivery times. With the "To-go program", for example, gear units from the modular system can be dispatched after just five working days – in emergencies, when a system is down, dispatch is even possible within 24 hours. This ensures a maximum level of operational reliability for operators.
In addition to providing components only, the drive specialist also offers complete solutions from a single source. This involves combining gear units, motors, frequency inverters, couplings, brakes, base frames, and other system components to create customized drive packages. SEW‑EURODRIVE solutions are represented in every sector and application, including the base materials, cement, and steel industries, as well as environmental technology and recycling.